Hanjin reports loss in second quarter

Friday, August 09, 2013

Hanjin Shipping reported a loss of 80.4 billion Korean won ($72.4 million) in the second quarter of 2013 compared to a loss of 1.2 billion won in the same quarter of 2012.
Total sales in the second quarter were 2.67 trillion won, 5.8 percent less than the 2.83 trillion won a year earlier.
Most of Hanjin’s sales come from its container business unit, and container sales in the second quarter of 2013 were nearly 2.2 trillion won, down 6.2 percent from the 2.3 trillion won in the same period a year earlier even though the number of containers transported was up 5.9 percent to 1,208,045 TEUs. Operating loss from its container business was 73.3 billion won in the second quarter 2013 versus a profit of 74.2 billion won in the same quarter last year.
The company said container profitability was weaker than expected “as container freight rate recovery was delayed due to oversupply in the market.”
The company noted its terminal business profitability expanded, citing improvements at the Hanjin New Port in Busan and its terminal in Algeciras, Spain.
Hanjin forecast that in the third quarter “container business will see some transport volume growth as we enter into the peak season, and we will focus our efforts on maximizing profit margin through additional freight rate recovery in major trades and continuous cost reduction.”
In addition, the company said though oversupply in global bulk vessel capacity is still present, bulk business is forecast to recover gradually as "iron ore exports from major exporters and crop exports from the U.S. and Russia increase.” - Chris Dupin